1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for the propulsion of a tumbler body and, more particularly, to a device for the propulsion of a tumbler body in the shape of an oloid.
2. History of the Related Art
CH-patent 500 000 describes a device for the generation of a tumbling motion. This device consists of a body that Paul Schatz, in his book "Rhythmusforschung and Technik" (Stuttgart 1975), refers to as an "oloid." This oloid, according to CH-A1 500 000, is driven by a conveyor belt which carries the oloid. This drive was not very popular in practical applications, because it requires a perfectly shaped oloid and no slip during the rolling of the oloid. Guide rollers, which are commonly used on drum-shaped rolling elements, cannot be used with the shape of the oloid. Even though it has, much like a cylinder, a straight contact line on one plane, the angle of this contact line changes in an oscillatory manner with respect to the direction of travel. Therefore, the invention never became successful. This is not the case with the solution presented in CH-patent 216 760 in which a hollow body, executing a tumbling motion, is part of a half Bricard chain. This solution has been successful in the market employing various designs and different means of propulsion. But it has the tremendous disadvantage that prevents the construction of a mixer based on the oloid or inversion principle with a capacity of one or more cubic meters. This disadvantage is caused by the high mass forces occurring during operation that constantly change in size and direction. These mass forces require extremely large components and, thus, represent extreme challenges to the base of such a machine.
The purpose of this invention is the creation of a drive for an oloid body that overcomes these disadvantages and is also suited for oloids with large dimensions.